Glider



Nov. 28, 1939. A G. GRIFFIN GLIDER Filed Ma '4, 1938 a Sheets-Sheet 1 wa -gym,

IN VEN TOR. BY E 7 L A TTORNEY Nov. 28, 1939. A. c;v GRIFFIN GLIDER Filed May 4, 1938 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 wwwm ATTORNEY 1 Nov; '28, 1939. G, GRlFFlN 2,181,326

' GLIDER Filed May 4, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet. 3

IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEY ator. e Yet anotherobject of the invention is to pro-' Patented Nov. 28, 1939 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE GLIDER Alvin G. Griffin, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application May 4, 1938, Serial No. 205,897

8 Claims. I (01.244-16) This invention relates to improvements in gliders and particularly to that type of gliders adapted for spectacular purposes.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a glider which may be worn by a person in addition to the parachutes usually carried upon the seat or front of a person.

Another object of this invention is to provide a glider with wings which are detachably mounted and adapted to be dropped while gliding or descending.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a glider with wings, each of which carries a folded flare-chute which automatically opens up after the wing has been dropped.

A further object of the invention is to provide a glider which may be worn by a person and which is normally folded against the body when not in use.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a glider with hand operated controllers adapted to steer and guide the glider while gliding or descending.

Another object of the invention is to steer and guide a glider by means of rudders and ailerons which may be readily manipulated by the opervide the legs of the garment worn by the operator with a webbing between the legs which may be opened or joined by means of a lacing commonly known as zipper.

Still another object of the invention is to provide stabilizers operated by the knees of the user.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a glider of the type set forth which is simple in its construction and arrangement, safe, strong, durable and efficient in its use. I

To the accomplishment of these and such other objects as may hereinafter appear the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts herein specificially described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification and wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views: t

Figure 1 is a general view showing a person equipped with a glider in accordance with this invention, with outspread wings.

Figure 2 is'a fragmentary top iew of the device.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view showing one of the cone connections by means of which a wing may be disconnected from the harness.

Figure 4 shows an enlarged detail view of one 5 of the spring-tensioned hinge connections for the wing-opening lever.

Figure 5 illustrates the hinge connection at the rear of the harness.

Figure 6 is a front view of the device, show- 10 ing the wings in a collapsed or folded condition.

Figure 7 shows the method of detachably attaching the wings to the harness.

Figure 8 is an end view of Figure 7 showing the slide-plate details by means of which a wing 15 is held in position, or by means of which a wing may be disconnected.

Figure 9 is a sectional view along line 99 in Figure 8, the slide-plate cover being shown in dot and dash lines.

Figure 10 is a sectional view along lines llllll in Figure 8.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the slideplate'as used in this invention.

Figure 12 shows a fragmentary detail view of 25 the attaching end of a wing, including the slotted cones by means of which the wing is detachably conected to the harness.

Figure 13 is a perspective View of the strut support details the struts being broken away.

Figure 14 shows one of the wings attached to an opened descending flare-chute, the dot and dash lines indicate the flare-chute when in folded position.

It is a well known fact, corroborated by sta- 35 tistics, that wing-type gliders attached to a person have up to the present time not been successfully used for the reason that the wings become often tangled up with the main parachute generally carried and used in conjunction with 40 glidersof that type.

It is therefore the aim of this invention to fully overcome this disadvantage by providing a glider in which the wings may be disconnected by the operator from the harness and dropped.

. The glider comprises a harness 20, preferably made of light weight material. This harness consists of two identical halves 2| and 22, lined with soft sponge rubber 23 or other similar material. These halves are hingedly joinedat the back by 50 means of hinges 24.

As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 the said harness 20 conforms to the shape of the body of the wearer and the front is laced together by strong raw-hide laces 25, as shown. To prevent shift- 55 ing of the harness 20 on the body of the wearer shoulder straps 26 are provided.

The wings 21 are releasably attached to the sides of the harness in a manner which will be described later. Each of said wings comprises a strut-support 28 (Figure 13) which consists of a rounded upright bar 29 which has integral and horizontally disposed extensions 3i], 3!, 32 and 33 of circular cross-section. These extensions diminish gradually in length in such a manner that the longest extension 33 is on the top and the shortest extension 30 on the bottom. Each outward end of said extensions is provided with a slot 34 adapted to hingedly attach a tubular spar 35 thereto.

The leading edge 36 of said wings 21 is usually provided with a false camber 3'! reinforced by struts 38. These spars 35 and struts 38 are built up for proper airfoil lift so that they will assume the shape of a wing as now commonly used for aeroplanes (not shown). Of. course, the present invention is not concerned with the particular well known construction and design of wings with the exception of the vital parts thereof and shown in the drawings.

The said wings 2'! are adapted to be folded downwardly and against the body of the user in a position as shown in Figure 6 of the drawings by means of a jack-knife connection 39 shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the same comprises a bifurcated lever id, the lower end of which being provided with a hub it having an aperture 42 to freely receive a pivot-pin 43 which is securely held at both ends in ears 44 preferably made integral with said strut-support 28, or otherwise.

Between the upper end of said bifurcated lever 68 is hingedly secured a lever 45 by means of a pin-connection 46, and in addition to the latter lever 5 is also hinged at the extreme upper portion by a pin-connection M. The lower portion of said lever M, which reaches between the bifurcated lever opening i8, is provided with a hooked end 49 which is adapted to embrace the rod 56. This rod is secured inthe arms of the bifurcated lever M! in any suitable manner.

As shown in Figures 2 and i, the bifurcated lever Mi of said jack-knife connection 39 is spring tensioned by means of a strong spring 5! which is adapted to assist to spread the wings 21 to a. position as shown in Figure 1. In folded position, these wings 21' are held together with a piece of cord (see Figure 6), the ends of which being tied together in bow-fashion to facilitate easy opening by the operator.

Each wing 27 is provided with an aileron 52 and a rudder 53, both of which may be controlled by one of the operators hands.

The aforesaid aileron 52 is hingedly secured to the bottom spar E l by means of suitable hinges 55 and is manipulated by rocking a handle 55 which is pivoted at 5'?! in brackets 58 which is secured to the leading edge 35 of said Wings 27. The aileron. 52 is connected to handle 55 by a piece of wire or rod 59.

The rudder 53 is rockably attached between one of the spars 35 and one of the struts 38 and may be rocked by the operator by means of a bellcrank lever 69, one leg of which serving as a handle 5i and the other leg 62 serving as a connecting member to which one end 63 of a wire or rod it is attached, while the other end of said wire or rod 6 is secured to a bracket 65 fastened to said rudder 53 in a manner as, for instance, shown in Figuresl and 2.

Referring again to Figure 1 of the drawings,

the numeral 65 indicates a pair of stabilizers, each of which being pivotally secured by means of a pivot-bolt G? to the lower part of the endplate 68 of said wing 2'! which faces the body of the operator. Of course, one of stabilizers is made right-handed and one is made lefthanded and each of said stabilizers comprises an elongated bar 69 which terminates at its lowermost end into an outwardly arched knee-support ii A spring 1! is provided to tension the stabilizer 56 rearwar-dly and against the knee of the operator.

As previously stated, both Wings 2'! are detachably connected to the harness 28 in such a manner that the same can be readily disconnected therefrom at the will of the operator. This is especially desirable should he encounter distress in the air while performing which would make it necessary to use the seat-pach parachute (not shown) and in order to avoid entanglement with the latter the operator disconnects the wings from the harness 25! by means of a simple releasing mechanism, which by the way, one of the paramount improvements herewith disclosed.

The heretofore described strut supports are securely mounted on a rectangular frame it, of sxong but light weight material, in prepared parallel grooves 73, each of the latter being adapted to partly receive the upright portion of said support 28. Clam; Li securely hold said support on said frame if by means of bolts, or otherwise (Figure 13).

The side of said frame M which faces the body of the user is provided with parallelly aligned cone-shaped buttons l! secured. to the frame '52 in a manner, as, for instance, shown in Figures 3, '7 and 12. Each of these cone-shaped buttons '7? fit into correspondingly cone-shaped cavities 18 of the bosses T9 of the harness 2B. said bosses 19 extend outwardly from the sides of said harness 2% and is suitably machined to slidably receive a key-plate 83.

The aforementioned key-plate 8! comprises an Each of elongated rectangular frame member 8i, the

interior of which being removed or open as at 82. At one end of said key-plate is an outwardly extending lug 83 in which is rigidly secured a pin 84. A pair of centrally aligned lugs 35 and 86, preferably integral with said key-plate 8d are provided in which lug 35 extends outwardly of said key-plate Si) and lug Bii extends within the opening 32. These lugs 85 and 86 are, when assembled, adapted to engage the slots 81 of said cone-shaped buttons 11.

In Figures 8, 9 and 10 there is shown the aforesaid key-plate Bi assembled upon said boss 19 of harness 25 and over the raised square portion 88 which is slotted out as at 39 to accommodate said lu'g 85. The opposite end of said boss i9 is also provided with a raised square portion 953, and a slot 9! is provided to slidingly accommodate the lug B5 of said key-plate 353. These raised square portions 38 and Qii are of a height corresponding approximately to the thickness of said key-plate fit) so that, when the U-shaped cover Sit is placed over the assembled key-plate and rigidly held in position by screws 92 which engage the tapped holes of raised square portions 88 and 9! the keyplate will have enough clearance to be readily moved, when so desired, but at the same time the cover hi must retain the key-plate in place.

A V-shaped coil spring M is held at its apex 95 to the recessed portion 98 of said boss is by means of a screw 91 and the free ends of said spring 94 are secured to the inner walls'98 of saidkey-plate 80, as shown in Figures 8, 9, and 11 7 short lever I06 which serves for the same purpose as the arm of said bell-crank I04 and engagesthe pin, of a second key-plate (not shown) which is a duplicate of the one shown in. Figure 8.

-It is to be observed, that each wing structure is positively attached to the harness 29 by inserting the four cone-shaped buttons 11, (Figures 7 and 13) mounted upon the frame 12, into the cone-shaped cavities 18 of the bosses 79 of harness 20.

This is accomplished, by first moving the handle I to a position as best shown in dot and dash lines in Figure '7. By doing this, the lugs 85 and 88 of key-plates 89 have been retarded out of the cone-shaped cavities I8, thereby permitting the buttons TI to be inserted'therein; By again releasing the handle I95, which by the way is spring tensioned, it automatically returns to the full line position (Figure 7) and the lugs 85 and 85 engage the slots 8? of said coneshaped buttons 1'! and the wing structure is now securely attached to the harness 20.

The operator may disconnect both wing structuresat the sametime from the harness 20 by taking hold of both handles I95 and urging the same towards each other thereby withdrawing the lugs 85 and 85 of key-plate 80 out of engagement of slots 81 of buttons TI.

The wings may be readily disconnected from the harness 20 regardless of the position of the glider in the air, due to the so-called cone-connections by means of which the wing structure is attached to the harness.

The numeral I08 indicates a padding (Figure 6) which surrounds the support 28 at the joint of the spars to prevent air from entering through the opening.

The herewith described glider may be used to descend from a great height as from an aeroplane and to glide and control the direction of travel; Of course, it is obvious that this glider is intended to be used in conjunction with parachutes, especially for the final portion of the descent or performance.

As best shown in Figure 14, each wing structure is equipped with a standard Navy flare chute I 09 which is suitably attached to the frame I2, folded and pocketed within the opening III] (Figure 13) and held there by springs (not shown) usually furnished with that type of chute.

Whenever the wings have been disconnected from the harness they will rapidly drop through space until the flare chute will be expanded by the currents of the air against the underface thereof caused by the rapidity of the drop and, of course, the weight of the wings. In that manner the wings will contact the ground without damage to property or the wings and the latter may again be attached to the harness for further use.

Naturally, it is obvious to mention that the wing structure is covered with suitable and slightly doped fabric which must not be too stifi and have a certain amount of elasticity, so that the wings may be readily folded, when not in use, against the body of the user (Figure 6).

, From the foregoing description it will be noted that the improved glider is not only adapted for acrobatic performances but it may also be used for military purposes while in high altitude and a the outstanding feature of dropping the wings when in distress provides considerable protection to the user by clearing the wings before using one of the main parachutes thereby preventing entanglement with the same; of course, should the wings be in normal position during a descent it will not be required to drop the wings and a main parachute may the wings.

In actual practice, the operationof the glider is as follows: I

Assuming that the user wears the harness and the wings are folded or collapsed against the body and he carries a seat-pack and a back-pack parachute of any standard make.

When making a descent, the operator leaks clear of an aeroplane, he then opens the bow III of a string I I2 (Figure 6) which holds the wings together while in folded position. The wings will then automatically and partly open up assisted by the spring 5| (Figure 4). The user then takes hold of the two handles 56 and lifts the wings into final position (Figure 1) thereby lockingthe jack-knife connection 39 by means of the hook 49 which embraces the rod 59 (Figure 2) The operator now, assisted by the ailerons 52 and the rudders 53 glides and descends with his head foremost an'd'his body in an approximately horizontal plane.

In the event that the operator loses control of the glider, or should the wings of the glider come in a position where the parachute might get tangled up with the wings, the user, in that case drops the wings in a manner as heretofore described. Since each wing is provided with an individual flare-chute which automatically opens up shortly after dropping, they will glide to the ground undamaged.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention apperbe used in conjunction with tains, and while describing the principle of operation of the invention together with the device which is now considered to be the best embodiment thereof it is to be understood that the device shown is merely illustrative and that various changes in the form, proportion and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a glider of the class described including a metallic harness to be worn by a person, a pair of wings attached to said harness and adapted to be folded against the body of the wearer, means to spread said wings and retain same in spreaded position, each of said wings provided with an aileron and a rudder, means to operate both by one of the hands of the user, and means to disconnect said wings from said harness when they are in folded or spreaded position. I

2. In a glider of the class described, a metallic harness adapted to be worn by a person and provided with a boss arranged one on each side of the wearer having a plurality of cone-shaped cavities, a wing mounted on each boss, said wings provided with a plurality of cone-shaped buttons adapted to be inserted in said cone-shaped cavities, means for locking said buttons in said cavities and means for releasing said buttons from said cavities.

3. In a glider, a metallic harness adapted to be worn by a person and provided with a boss arranged one on each side of the wearer, said boss having a pair of aligned, cone-shaped cavities, a wing structure mounted on each boss and provided with a frame having secured thereon a pair of aligned cone-shaped buttons adapted to be inserted in said cone-shaped cavities and unitary means for locking said buttons in said cavities or releasing said buttons from said cavities.

4. In a glider of the class described, a metallic harness adapted to be worn by a person and provided with a boss arranged one on each side of the wearer, a wing structure detachably mounted on each boss comprising a frame having securely mounted thereon a strut support and a spar support, said strut support adapted to hingedly attach thereto a plurality of struts, said spar support adapted to hingedly attach thereto a plurality of spars; means for locking said wing structure in spreaded position; a flexible covering for said wing structure; an aileron and a rudder attached to each of said wing structures and hand operated means attached to the leading edge of each wing structure to manipulate said ailerons and rudders.

5. In a glider, a metallic harness adapted to be worn by a person and provided with bosses arranged in pairs on each side of the wearer, a wing structure provided with a frame detachably secured to said bosses, means for disconnecting said wing structures from said harness and a flare-chute attached to and packed within said frame in a manner to automatically open up after the wing structure is disconnected from the harness substantially as described and set forth.

6. In a glider of the class described, a harness adapted to be worn by a person, a pair of wings for said glider, each of said wings detachably secured to said harness and means to disconnect individually each wing from said harness during a descent.

7. In a glider of the class described, a metallic harness adapted to be Worn by a person, a pair of wings for said glider, each of said wings detachably secured to said harness and adapted to be folded against the body of the wearer, hand operated means to spread said wings and mechanical-means to retain said wings in spreaded position and means to disconnect individually each wing from said harness during a descent.

8. In a glider of the class described, a metallic harness adapted to be worn by a person, a pair of wings for said glider, each of said wings detachably secured to said harness and adapted to be folded against the body of the wearer, hand operated means to spread said wings and mechanical means to retain said wings in spreaded position and means to disconnect individually each wing from said harness in folded or spreaded position during a descent.

ALVIN G. GRIFFIN. 

